Records on the 2007 elections from the Comelec provincial office indicated that Panlilio garnered 16,476 votes in Mabalacat, while Pineda got only 13,491 to make for a difference of 2,985.
The difference of 2,985 votes favoring Panlilio is more than the 2,011 votes that was supposed to be the edge of Pineda as a result of the recent recount of votes, Panlilio’s supporters noted.
Ferrer said that only some of the ballots from Mabalacat were included in the recount, as he recalled that in 2007, a total of 164 out of 399 ballot boxes in the town were burned together with ballots inside, in a fire later established as an arson case at the back of the municipal hall.
In its verdict last Thursday on the recount of votes as petitioned by Pineda, the Comelec’s Second Division, headed by Ferrer, indicated that Pineda won over Panlilio by 2,001 votes.The recount results yielded 190,279 votes for Pineda and 188,718 votes for Panlilio. The decision also ordered the ouster of Panlilio and the assumption of Pineda as governor.
Irwin Nucum, spokesperson of the Kapampangans Kontra Recount (K2R) noted, however, that if all the Mabalacat votes were included as supported by records, the 2,011 votes which is supposedly Pineda’s edge would still be overtaken by Panlilio’s 2,985 votes in Mabalacat.
Ferrer said, however, that there were “no secondary evidence” that could provide data on the burnt ballots. “It seems that not only the ballots, but even the election returns (ER’s) were burned,” he said.
This, however, was denied by Comelec provincial supervisor Temmie Lambino who told Punto that the ER’s were spared from the fire. “Copies of the ER’s were provided to several parties, including the Comelec central office,” he said.
Noting this, Nucum lamented the Second Division’s verdict on the recount case as “arbitrary”. “It was done in a way that would favor Pineda,” he said.
Official figures of the provincial Comelec office indicated that in the 2007 polls, Panlilio won with 219,875 votes, followed by Pineda with 218,559 and then incumbent Gov. Mark Lapid with 210,875.
Panlilio, who used to be parish priest of Betis in Guagua town in this province, ran as an independent candidate, while Pineda was the official bet of the administration Kampi party. Panlilio is seeking reelection, this time under the Liberal Party, even as Pineda is running anew against him under the Lakas-Kampi-CMD.
Nucum said that supporters of Panlilio will hold continuing prayer vigils and protest marches in this town to protest the result of the Comelec recount.
“It’s the death of democracy in Pampanga because what a biased Comelec did was to infringe on the sovereign will of the Kapampangans who expressed freely their choice for governor in the 2007 elections,” he said.
Pineda’s lawyer George Garcia said he is set to file a petition for execution of the Comelec’s order to oust Panlilio.
The Comelec gave Panlilio five says within which to file a petition for reconsideration. His lawyers said that the petition will be filed on Tuesday, the last day of the five-day deadline.
